A red eye flight is a commercial airplane journey that departs late at night and arrives at the destination early the following morning. These late-night departures are frequently cheaper than daytime options as consumer demand drops significantly during the traditional sleeping hours. Travellers can easily complete a full day of work or sightseeing at their origin city before heading straight to the airport. Also, navigating terminal gates during the midnight hours window means experiencing significantly shorter security lines and much less crowded claim areas.
Do Not Book A Middle Seat
Selecting a seat without a clear reset strategy completely ruins your chances of getting high sleep during the entire journey. If you book a middle seat for your journey, your body is going to constantly face the shoulder bumps from neighbors and flight attendants walking down the aisle. You can easily avoid this layout trap by viewing the digital seating charts to secure a window seat well in advance. Having a window seat allows you to lean comfortably against the cabin walk and maintain absolute control over the window shade.
Alternative Measures To Stay Comfortable
Look for extra leg-room seats during check-in to get enough space to stretch out. You can also wear soft clothing like hoodies and sweatpants so that you can easily adapt to fluctuating cabin temperatures. For footrests, you can also place a small personal bag under the seat in front of you to prop up your feet and relieve lower back pressure.
Do not Consume Alcohol For Relaxation
Many passengers consume alcohol at the airport lounge or take heavy sedative medications to force themselves to relax or rest while travelling. The problem lies is that the artificial sedation severely disrupts your natural sleep architecture and drags you towards abnormal sleep patterns or insomnia. Nevertheless, alcohol acts as a powerful diuretic which rapidly accelerates dehydration inside the already dry, pressurized airplane cabin.
Alternative Measures To Induce Sleep
You can ask the flight attendant for hot water to brew your own chamomile or peppermint tea before taking a nap. If you love music, try listening to relaxation music or sounds of rain drops, or a slow-paced podcast to distract your brain from cabin noises. Don't forget to practice breathing exercises, use the 4-7-8 breathing technique to lower your heart rate and relax your body just after the flight takes off.
Also Read: What Happens To Airplanes After They Stop Flying
Do Not Consume Excessive Caffeine
Many people have a habit of consuming excessive amounts of caffeine or energy drinks immediately after landing, but this turns out to be the biggest mistake for your digestive system. Flooding a dehydrated and sleep-deprived stomach with high doses of caffeine causes severe energy crashes and intense jitters. This sudden artificial spike in caffeine content in your body results in severe gastrointestinal distress early in the morning.
Alternative Measures To Wake Up
Immediately upon landing at your destination, go to the airport restroom and splash cold water on your face to instantly trigger alertness. Then, walk outside the terminal as the natural daylight is the excellent source available to instruct your brain to stop producing sleep hormones. Finally, once you reach the hotel or your home, choose protein diets, which includes eggs, nuts or yoghurt for breakfast to get sustained, long-lasting energy without having a sudden energy crash.
Do Not Sleep Immediately After Checking-In Into Your Hotel
Travelling to different time-zones can indeed disrupt your natural sleep cycle and can invite other problems too. Many passengers head straight towards the bed for a multi-hour map the moment they arrive at the hotel, but in reality, it completely destroys your internal biological clock. So, to combat this fatigue, you must push through the initial exhaustion and stay awake until your normal local evening time. If you absolutely cannot function without having proper rest, limit yourself to a strict twenty-minute power nap before noon to sleep at your normal evening time.
Alternative Measures To Combat Morning Fatigue
Upon reaching the hotel, leave your bags at the hotel front desk, so that you are free to explore without checking into a room. Once you check-in to your room, give yourself a refreshed feeling by using a brisk, warm shower to rejuvenate your body and wash away the exhaustion of airplane travel. If you are getting bored in your hotel room, go outside for a light walk around the neighbourhood, observe nature, this way it will help to keep proper blood circulation and stay awake naturally.
Also Read: 7 Most Expensive Private Jets To Charter Worldwide
Do Not Schedule Demanding Activities On Immediate Arrival
Treating your arrival day like a normal and following a highly-productive itinerary often results in extreme mental burnout and unnecessary mistakes. Handling demanding tasks on the day of arrival itself negatively impacts your cognitive function, patience and physical reaction due to sitting upright in a cramped cabin all night. Even if you plan to do so, you will quickly find yourself overwhelmed by basic tasks and lose focus on important tasks.
Alternative Measures To Handle Your First Day
To fully relax on the day of your arrival, use trains, buses or rideshare apps instead of driving a rental car while tired. You may also plan your following day’s activities properly so that you don't miss out on anything. If you don't have any budget-constraint, consider booking a gentle spa treatment or a light massage session to relax muscle tension. Since you have a good amount of time, go outside of your room and explore a nearby grocery store to pick up snacks and know a bit about your local environment. These few options can be tried to help you keep awake without draining your remaining physical energy.
